Where did 38 people go?

US accused on 'missing' prisoners

Thirty eight people believed to have been held in secret CIA prisons - or black sites - are missing, according to a report by a US human rights group.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report also details allegations of torture by a terror suspect who was held in secret custody for more than two years.

The group has asked US President George W Bush to reveal the location of these detainees and close all US black sites.

Last year Mr Bush said the prisons had all closed and had not used torture.

'Missing' prisoners

In a televised address in September, Mr Bush admitted that 14 detainees had been held at secret CIA prisons that used interrogation methods that were "tough" but "lawful and necessary".

"The United States does not torture," Mr Bush said at the time. "It's against our laws, and it's against our values. I have not authorised it - and I will not authorise it."

He said the prisoners had since been transferred to the US military camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the CIA was not holding any more terror suspects.

But in a report published on Tuesday, HRW has named another 38 people who were believed to have been held in secret CIA prisons, who are now missing.

Quoting US intelligence officials, The Washington Post says more than 60 people have been held in the prisons since 2001.

'Beaten and burned'

The group has called on the US to reveal the location of all detainees held by the CIA since 2001 and end its "illegal" secret detention and interrogation programmes.

Palestinian Islamic extremist Marwan al-Jabour told HRW he saw or spoke to a number of those named in the report while he was held by the CIA between 2004 and 2006.

Mr Jabour, who was arrested in Lahore, Pakistan in May 2004, also detailed torture tactics he says were used against him while he was in US custody.

He says at various periods during his 28-month detention Pakistani authorities kept him naked and chained to a ceiling. He says he was beaten, burned and handcuffed in stress positions.

During this time he was also reportedly interrogated by US agents for hours on end, but Mr Jabour says he was only tortured when the Americans were not around.

Mr Jabour admits that in 1998 he trained in Afghanistan in the hope of fighting in Chechnya. He also says he helped Arab militants who had fled Afghanistan for Pakistan in 2003, but he denies any links to al-Qaeda or terror activities.

EU threat

Meanwhile, the US has warned the European Union that ongoing inquiries into secret CIA flights within Europe linked to the black sites are threatening intelligence ties between Europe and the US.

The investigations "have not been helpful with respect to necessary co-operation between the United States and Europe," John Bellinger, legal adviser to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said.

Mr Bellinger also labelled a European Parliament report into the flights, released earlier this month, as "unbalanced, inaccurate and unfair".

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6405089.stm

Are love and faith the same?

I hope you don't mind, Philip, but what you wrote was so wonderful... I've never heard 'love' and 'faith' defined like this. You should be writing my blog! lol So I pulled your comment off the post below and put it here for all to enjoy:

I don't know how different love and faith actually are. Love seems to be (according to a list of authors and speakers listed later) an authentic approach toward another in which you are transformed, while leaving that other as is - in other words, not internally likening it to yourself or otherwise denying its individuality. It's an "internal" experience which requires some sort of response or reaction - even when you have no idea how to react.

Love at its core is both relational and personal. It only arises in relationship to another, but it's still ultimately you who loves, no matter the response (encouragement or otherwise) of the other. Even if the object hurts you or otherwise refuses your response, it is still your responsibility to love.

NB: THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "RESPONSIBILITY" AND "DUTY". You have no duty of any kind to stay in an abusive relationship of any kind or continue to love when such an attachment can kill you - in that sense that no one can force you to act otherwise apart from your consent, you're free. The flip side is that you are responsible to the relationship - it is your response to that other person which is ultimate.

Faith seems to be similar - approaching life/god/reality in a way that leaves you transformed and open to new possibility. It too requires a response which at any given time you might not be capable of performing, but the call must lead you on. It is the direct encounter with and responsibility to the Ultimate, and not mental assent to some creedal statement. No guarantee things will turn out right, and the probability that things will go badly and it might well be your own damn fault Yet you continue blindly into the unfolding world, listening ahead for the one who saves you from your finitude.

...writing this, I felt way too many influences. Levinas, McLaren, Buber, Krishnamurti, Gene, B. Katie, the gospels, a whole lot of Buddhist teachers and a little bit of Derrida. I can't say that a single thing above is even original, or accurate, or even internally consistent...especially since my experience at loving and at faith is virtually nil. They seem like smart people, though.

Random note: Don't look up what "pistis" means in Lithuanian. And if you do, don't read 1 Corinthians or Luke (or the other gospels, or Acts, or any letter besides 2 John) with that meaning in place of the word "faith" in translation.

(Credit, All of It, Due to One Philip S.)

Love is greater than faith

You know how the banner of the Reformation was "saved by grace through faith" ? Sola Fide... faith alone. Not by works but by faith. Yada, yada, yada. (Hehe I saw the Seinfeld "yada" episode last night. That's a good one.)

Anyway, I've just been thinking a lot about love lately.

But now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Cor. 13:13)

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
(Galatians 5:6)

And it's just funny to me that we put so much stock in faith... so much faith in faith, really. When God has said pretty clearly, over and over, in story and even directly, that what really matters more than anything is love.

The greatest commandment is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
(Deuteronomy 6:5)

Not to have soul-saving faith, not to have correct theology (we'll be lucky if 2% of our theology is right, in my estimation), not to pray the right prayer... but the greatest commandment is to love the Great God of the Universe, the Maker of all things both seen and unseen, that Great Artist and Amazing Lover

And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.
(Mark 12:31)

You could say faith is a necessary first step to loving. You might call me crazy but I would say love makes faith almost irrelevant. It's no longer even a question of faith. Love overshadows the whole faith issue.

I get along very well with people who understand faith as something that is only real when it is felt or expressed as love. I think Jesus liked those people, too -

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."

"Tell me, teacher," he said.

"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."

"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

(Luke 7)

Okay so he used the word faith at the end... hehe maybe my grand point isn't adding up. Hmmm I wonder if I could pull out some Greek and prove he used a special faith word that means love. Phil, can ya help me out? lol

Well let me just leave you with this one...

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Africa not filled with poverty?

This AllAfrica.com article about the misrepresentation of Africa is so freakin crazy. It seems that, for this author, caring is just a mask for racism and disdain.

I'm sorry, lady, but people in Africa really do lack access to clean water and basic sanitation.

More people really do have AIDS in Africa than anywhere else. Millions of children really are orphans because their parents died of AIDS.

It is literally a DARK place - that's not some arbitrary insult. If you look at one of those satellite images of the world at night, Africa is a dark continent. No electricity means less business, less economic development, and thus less economic vitality. Compare the lights in the U.S. or Europe to the darkness in Africa.

The Save Darfur campaign paints Africa in a bad light? It should! Genocide is occurring. Should we not give Sudan negative media coverage?

No one is denying that Africa is all the things you say in the last paragraph - beautiful, strong, rhythmic, hopeful. But if true caring is a glossing over of the quote-unquote true problems that exist, then I guess I just don't care.

The fact that she even puts the word Africa in quotations throughout the article shows how freakishly paranoid she has become about the whole thing. Africa is indeed a place! It's an actual land mass. It's not a myth. It's not a political construction. It's a real mixing bowl of thousands of vibrant cultures that have some strengths and some weaknesses in common. No need for quotations.

Love song for a man

If he were a color - he'd be deep, dark forest green
If he were a car - he'd be a long stretch limousine
With room for all of humanity inside
'Cause he is so giving and he is so wise

If he were a number - he'd be a 5, cause he has such a brilliant mind
If he were an animal - he'd be an ass (haha)
'Cause he's so stubborn sometimes...

If he were a song - he'd be a complicated melody
(That complicated fellow, he)
I almost cannot sing on key
He means the world to me...

If he were a building - he'd be a beautiful cathedral cause he's so traditionally spiritual
If he were a dance - he'd be complicated like the tango
Exotic like a mango

But if he were a song - he'd be a complicated melody
(That complicated fellow, he)
I almost cannot sing on key
But he means the world to me...

He ain't the reason for the sun and the moon
He's just the reason for this here tune
Cause he means the world to me
I said he means the world to me

That complicated melody
That complicated fellow, he
He's a complicated melody
I almost cannot sing it on key

("Complicated Melody," India Arie)

Feels like today

I woke up this morning
With this feeling inside me that I can't explain
Like a weight that I've carried, been carried away

But I know something is coming
I don't know what it is but I know
It's amazing, can save me, my time is coming
I'll find my way out
Of this longest drought

And it feels like today, I know
It feels like today, I'm sure
It's the one thing that's missing
The one thing I'm wishing
Life's sacred blessing and then,
It feels like today, feels like today

You treat life like a picture
But it's not a moment that frozen in time
It's not gonna wait till you make up your mind, at all

So while this storm is breaking
While there's light at the end of the tunnel
Keep running towards it
Releasing the pressure that's your heartache
Soon this dam will break

And it feels like today, I know
It feels like today, I'm sure
It's the one thing that's missing
The one thing I'm wishing
The last sacred blessing and then, it feels like today
Feels like today

("Feels Like Today," Rascal Flatts)

All roads lead to the trash can

Is it normal for a large percentage of one's projects to eventually be abandoned, and destined for the trash can? Is this just the way business goes in the 21st century? It was this way in my old job, and I chalked it up to the craziness of my employer, but now it's happening again with a different "employer."

I just don't do well with all these loose ends...

Meet my friend

My new favorite person in the world - Meatwad.

The coolest person in Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

He's soooooooo cute! He's like this innocent little kid but then out of nowhere, he just starts swearing or threatening people... but in a really sweet way. It's awesome. He is a big blob of red meat. What's not to love?

YouTube's chopping block

Viacom, which is absolutely massive, has basically forced YouTube to remove 100,000 unauthorized clips of its shows.

The thing that I find interesting is captured by YouTube's response: it is "unfortunate" that Viacom would no longer be able to "benefit from YouTube's passionate audience which had helped promote many of Viacom's shows".

Seriously. These Viacom executives are out of touch. People don't watch YouTube to avoid watching TV shows, or even to avoid purchasing DVDs. A few years ago, did you ever see so many TV shows on DVD at the store? People are watching more TV, more media, than ever before.

I liken it to the Barnes and Noble phenomenon. It was scary at first because it seemed if you gave people big, comfy chairs and unlimited time to read books, they would take advantage and read them without buying them. Sure, this happens, but book sales are way up nationally! My Dad, for example, goes to Barnes and Noble, gets a new book and a coffee. He sits down and reads the whole thing, cover to cover. If he likes it, which he often does, he buys one or more copies both for himself and for others. He has become a Barnes and Noble member because he buys so many books there.

I don't know if this phenomenon is purely economic, but it seems social and relational to me. People respond to the fact that they are trusted, they are given a gift. They become even bigger fans. They adopt a strange brand loyalty that makes marketing execs feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Especially in an age of interactive media, citizen journalism, blogging, cool cell phones... especially in this era, give somebody some free content on YouTube and you will find that person talking up the video to 10 friends.

The challenge now is not to retain control. The challenge is to create the absolute best content out there. Consumers are in control now, and if you are bad, they will have no time for you.

If you are good though, do not protect your creation - watch it spread. Democracy and media have collided.